peanut butter oatmeal chocolate chip cookies

So it is August. Which means we are officially having a baby this month. At this point I mostly feel like we are just in waiting mode, and I almost don’t know what to do with myself. Work has been kind of winding down for me as I’ve prepared to be gone for awhile and passed my work along to other people. So mostly I’ve been at home just kind of waiting and trying to come up with things to do.

I suppose you’re supposed to call it nesting, and perhaps I have felt some of that. But really it’s been less of the nesting urge and more of me trying to come up with ways to occupy myself so that I stop thinking about how impatient I am for this baby to get here.

Things I’ve accomplished this week:

– Finished washing all the baby clothes that we’ll need for the beginning, plus the crib sheets and towels and blankets. We are ready (I think).

– Took pictures of everything in our house and organized them on the computer (with cloud based back up). I heard years ago that this is a good idea should you ever have to file an insurance claim, and I’ve been meaning to do this ever since. Of course I procrastinated on it for years, but every time the tornado sirens went off I remembered how much this needed to be done. So it’s done now, albeit with imperfect pictures with drawers that probably should have been a bit more organized, but it’s something.

– Cleaned out and reorganized the freezer. This has been slowly happening over the past few weeks, but I finally pulled everything out on to my kitchen counter this week (and immediately thought that perhaps that was a bad idea), quickly put it all back in so that it is more organized, and threw away some things that have been in there for way too long.

– Organized the files in my desk drawer. They were overflowing and full of unnecessary things. I’m pretty sure I don’t need four year old receipts for oil changes for a car I don’t even own anymore.

– Baked cookies. To be honest I’m not really sure what else to do, and maybe this is the nesting urge coming through, but all I really want to do is bake. The amount of desserts we have had in our house this week has stymied some of it. But now that we’ve eaten through all the cookies, there are no guarantees about this weekend.

These are the best of some of my favorite cookies put into one. They come out crispy but still with a bit of soft chewiness. You can keep these in an air tight container, but beware of the danger. I'm not sure I was able to walk by them this week without eating one.

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups old fashioned oats

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/8 teaspoon table salt

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature

1/2 cup peanut butter

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup packed light brown sugar

1 large egg

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 to 1 1/2 cups bittersweet or semisweet chocolate chips

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.

In a medium-sized bowl, combine the oats, flour, baking soda, and salt. Stir together and set aside.

In a large bowl (to be used with an electric mixer), combine the butter, peanut butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar. Mix together on medium speed until combined and light and fluffy, 1-2 minutes. Add the egg and vanilla and mix until well combined.

Slowly add the dry ingredients, mixing on medium-low speed, just until combined. Then add the chocolate chips and mix just until they are incorporated. (Be careful not to over mix.)

Drop the cookie dough onto the prepared pan using a tablespoon or very small cookie scoop, placing the cookies 2 inches apart.

Bake for 10-12 minutes, until the cookies are just beginning to turn golden brown around the edges. Remove from oven and let cool on the pan for 1 minute, then remove them and place them on a wire rack to finish cooling. Serve warm or at room temperature.